The third 2013 Design Conference Keynote speakers is Kirsten Murray, partner and principal of Olson Kundig Architects, Seattle, WA. The firm is based on a simple principal –

“That buildings can serve as a bridge between nature, culture and people, and that inspiring surroundings have a positive effect on people’s lives.”

When she joined the firms’ owners group in 2008 it was “continuing the evolution of the firm and furthering its commitment to the experience around architecture, articulated in exhibit design, interiors, and connections to urban and rural landscapes.”

For over two decades she has worked across a broad range of project types including mixed-use, private residential design, adaptive reuse, workplace design and urban design and planning.

Ms. Murray has collaborated on the design of several projects that have received National AIA Honor awards and AIA Housing Awards, including Art Stable and 1111 E. Pike. To see more of her design work go to Olson Kundig Architects .

Murray’s project work has appeared in a variety of publications including The New York Times, Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Architectural Record, and Architecture. She is the director of the firm’s experimental work space, [storefront] Olson Kundig Architects, and recently served as a feature editor of ARCADE magazine.

2013 Design Conference Keynote speaker Coren Sharples, AIA is a Founding Principal of SHoP Architects and SHoP Construction as well as a registered architect in the States of New York and New Jersey.

Ms. Sharples holds a Bachelor of Science from the College of Business and Social Science, University of Maryland, and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University, where she graduated with Honors for excellence in design and was a recipient of the William Kinne Fellowship for post-graduate travel and research. Ms. Sharples interned at Raphael Vinoly Architects prior to establishing SHoP Architects with her fellow Principals. She has taught at the Parsons School of Design, volunteers in the New York City public schools, and sits on the local Borough of Manhattan Community Board. Ms. Sharples writes and lectures frequently about the firm’s work and issues facing the profession.

The firm, SHop, in it’s core philosophy believe in “both ideas and profitability”. An excerpt from their website outlines the firm:

While we are well-versed in the ongoing development of architectural theories, our expertise and ambition extends beyond the discussion and design of buildings. We look at an entire project and consider the site, the cultural and economic environment, a client’s physical needs and budget constraints, as well as construction techniques, branding, marketing, and post-occupancy issues. We use evolving computer-aided design technologies not only to produce innovative architectural forms but to streamline the design and construction process and create new efficiencies and cost-savings. Great architecture demands that design, finance, and technology work together – we’re combining these forces in innovative ways to create a new model for the profession. Seventeen years ago we set out to prove that intelligent, exciting, evocative architecture can be made in the real world, with real world constraints. We believe our work presents a convincing argument that we were right.

How do I know which code to design and who is responsible for enforcement?

This seminar will show where to find the adopted codes and the modifications in the NJ State Uniform Construction Code. It will also outline the responsibilities for enforcement of the adopted codes so that when calling the local enforcing agency, the architect will know which Subcode Official to direct their question.

The 2013 AIA-NJ Design Conference (Oct 2nd & 3rd) will offer 15 seminars to choose from, for members to earn up to 9 CEU’s. Three tracks of courses to choose from including Code Seminars, Green/ Sustainability Seminars, or Business Management Seminars. Find out more information about the event and Register online .

2013 Design Conference Keynote speaker John Ronan, AIA, is the lead designer and founding principal of Chicago-based John Ronan Architects. Ronan is a professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology and winner of two National AIA Design Awards in the past four years.

His firm, the office of John Ronan Architects is an internationally-recognized architecture and urban design firm committed to design excellence. Founded in 1997 the firm is comprised of dedicated design professionals committed to producing architecture of the highest quality, working on projects throughout the U.S., and in Europe.

The firm’s work is marked by conceptual innovation, exploration of materiality, a rigorous attention to detail, and the seamless integration of building systems. The firm has a studio culture and its working method is research-based, interdisciplinary and collaborative.

Led by John Ronan, the firm pursues an iterative design methodology to explore and test a wide range of design responses in order to find the appropriate response that feels intuitively correct for each individual situation, based on its client, site, program and context—cultural, historical, economic, social and political. With projects worldwide, the firm provides a variety of architectural and design services (urban design and planning, landscape design, interior design and graphic design), and promotes an interdisciplinary approach to design that includes the leading consultants in their field as collaborators.

To each project the office brings an exploratory attitude to the investigation of space and materiality, and a concern for issues of sustainability and the performance of the building over time, both functionally and environmentally.

AIA NJ is reinventing the 2013 Design Conference. Participants will be able to walk away with a total of 9 LU credits or pick and choose seminars on an a la carte menu suited for their needs and schedule.

October 2nd and 3rd at The Berkeley Hotel in Asbury Park, NJ, the Conference will offer 15 educational sessions including design, code regulations, green living and business practices; a one-day Expo and entertaining networking opportunities.

In addition, three keynotes are scheduled to headline the event :

John Ronan, Lead Designer and Founding Principal, John Ronan Architects

“Traditionalism versus modernity.” That was the theme at the first-ever American Institute of Architects (AIA) Tri State Conference, which was recently hosted by the AIA-New Jersey chapter, in conjunction with the AIA New York State and AIA Pennsylvania chapters, in Atlantic City, N.J. With more than 300 attendees, including world-famous architects Richard Meier and Stanley Tigerman, who were the keynote speakers, the conference united members of the architectural profession and explored topics ranging from energy efficiency to public infrastructure to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) designations.

“This conference was the product of many years of collaboration between the state chapters,” said Michael Hanrahan, president of AIA-NJ. “The first-class caliber of our keynote speakers reflects the quality of the conference.“ The conference offered a great opportunity for architects of all levels of experience to learn collectively about the important trends and updates in architecture today, said Hanrahan.

Keynote speakers Meier and Tigerman offered anecdotal information from their respective practices – Meier, with more of a modernist approach; and Tigerman, with more of a traditionalist approach.

Meier, who was born in Newark, N.J., talked about a handful of his projects, while showcasing them through a slide show. “Architecture is the mother of the arts,” Meier said. “I like to believe that architecture connects the present with the past and the tangible with the intangible. I believe that architecture has the power inspire, to elevate the spirit to feed both the mind and the body. For me, it’s the most public of the arts.” Meier went on to explain his infamous stark white building designs. “White is the most wonderful color because within it you can see all the colors of the rainbow,” he said. “The whiteness of white is never just white; it is almost always transformed by light and that which is changing — the sky, the clouds, the sun and moon.”

Tigerman’s also showed examples of his work and historical precedents. His remarks focused around his lifelong search for meaning in his work, and spoke of the plans for his buildings — not the walls, but the void contained within. “In many cases these spaces became sacred, like the sacred space of a monastic cloister,” he said. “In form and elevation, the fabric of buildings appears to be torn apart, revealing the space within.” It was an acceptance of transience, or “Wabi Sabi,” as he put it, that compelled him; a search for the ineffable. “Nothing lasts,” said Tigerman. “Nothing is perfect. Nothing lasts forever. I don’t know the answers, I am seeking that too.” And, when questioned as to how one could put these thoughts into practical terms on other projects, Tigerman replied, “First you have to believe in what you are doing before you have any hope of being able to convince others.”

The conference also featured the Tri-States Design Awards, for which each state chapter selected state winners that were submitted for the tri-state design competition. There were 24 winners in the categories of Special Initiatives, Residential Architecture, Non-Residential Architecture, Regional and Urban Design, Interior Architecture, Historic Preservation and Unbuilt. “The conference attracted the best from all over the region, and through the design awards the best work from the past year was showcased for all to see,” Hanrahan said.

The New Jersey design winners included Minervini Vandermark Architecture of Hoboken, N.J., who won a merit award in the Residential category for its 33 Willow Terrace project in Hoboken, N.J.; Payette Architect of Boston, Mass., in collaboration with the design architecture firm Hopkins Architects of London, England, who won an honor award in the Non-Residential category for its Frick Chemistry Lab project in Princeton, N.J.; Kohn Pederson Fox Associates of New York, N.Y., who won a merit award in the Non-Residential category for its Centra at Metropark project in Iselin, N.J.; and Wallace Roberts & Todd LLC of Philadelphia, who won a merit award for its Roosevelt Plaza project in Camden, N.J.

The conference offered event-goers a choice of over 25 courses, all of which counted toward continuing education credits. Attendees were able to obtain 12 of these credits during the conference. The subject matter of the courses fell within the theme of the conference, and the courses catered to all levels of the profession.